News

February 18, 2014

Powerball Fact Sheet

EST. $400 MILLION - Feb. 19, 2014, draw

JACKPOT INFO

The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday, Feb. 19, is $400 million. Players can choose to receive the jackpot in 30 graduated payments over 29 years or in one cash payment. Jackpot winners have 60 days from the winning draw date to choose cash or annuity payment. After 60 days, unclaimed jackpot prizes can only be claimed with the annuity payment.

If the winner chooses the single cash payment, he or she will receive roughly half of the advertised amount in one lump sum. Wednesday’s cash option would bring a single player approximately $227.8 million in one payment, before taxes.

The Lottery withholds 25 percent federal and 4 percent state taxes for a total of 29 percent.

The Wednesday night draw will be the 16th drawing since the jackpot was last hit on Dec. 25, 2013, for $71.5 million. That winning ticket was claimed by a man from Kansas City, Mo.

This would be the fourth highest jackpot ever offered in the game.

The top 10 highest Powerball jackpots are:

$590,500,000 – on May 18, 2013, to Gloria Mackenzie of Zephyrhills, Fla.

$314,300,000 – on Aug. 25, 2007, claimed by father David Coterel of Riverside, and his children David Coterel Jr. of Dayton, Ind.and Lynn Hiles of Dayton, Ind. The ticket was purchased at Speedway, 4382 Nation Road East in Richmond, Ind.

The top 10 jackpots won in Missouri are (all are from the Powerball game):

Mark and Cindy Hill, Dearborn, $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012

Christopher Shaw, Marshall, $258.5 million, April 21, 2010

The Wilson family, St. Louis, $254 million, Jan. 24, 2007

Lucky 13 State Workers, Florissant, $224.2 million, April 12, 2006

Bill and Claudia Walkenbach, Hermann, $130.6 million, July 9, 2003

Kevin Carlson, Kansas City, $71.5 million, Dec. 25, 2013

Jerry Sue Huellewig, St. Charles, $69 million, Nov. 25, 1995

Robert and Linda Burns, Centerview, $61.9 million, May 30, 2001

Rose McLeod, Blue Springs, $55 million, Feb. 25, 1998

Gary and Bev Ruff, Overland, $50 million, March 4, 2000

The three highest lottery jackpots awarded nationwide were: $656 million Mega Millions jackpot won March 30, 2012, with three winning tickets ($218.6 million each) sold in Ottawa, Kan., Red Bud, Ill., and Milford Mill, Md.; a $648 million Mega Millions jackpot won on Dec. 17, 2013, with two tickets sold in California and Georgia; and a $590.5 million Powerball jackpot won on May 18, 2013, with one winning ticket sold in Florida.

WINNER INFO

Of the 45 lotteries that offer Powerball, Missouri is ranked second in terms of Powerball winners with 28. (First is Indiana with 38.) More than $1.8 billion in Powerball jackpots alone have been won by Missouri Lottery players during the past 22 years. During the past year, Missouri has ranked approximately eighth in terms of sales among the member lotteries.

Thirty-four Powerball players have won $1 million by matching all five white-ball numbers (26 since the Powerball changes in January 2012).

The last time someone won a Powerball jackpot in Missouri was Dec. 25, 2013, when Kevin Carlson of Kansas City claimed a ticket worth $71.5 million, which he purchased at Autobahn BP in Platte Woods.

Twenty-seven other Powerball tickets, sold in Missouri, were jackpot winners:

WHERE THE MONEY GOES

Approximately 64.7 cents of Lottery purchases are returned to players in prizes, and about 24.5 cents goes toward funding for Missouri’s public elementary, secondary and higher education. Retailers who sell Lottery tickets receive approximately 6.2 cents of every dollar and about 4.6 cents is used for administrative costs.

HOW TO PLAY

Pick five numbers between 1 and 59. Then pick one additional number between 1 and 35 as the Powerball.

Players can win nine ways on Powerball, ranging from the jackpot down to $4.

If your Powerball number matches the Powerball number drawn, you win a prize. Without the Powerball number, you have to match at least three of the other five numbers to win a prize.

The overall chances of winning a prize in Powerball are 1 in 31.85.

Powerball players can also multiply their non-jackpot winnings up to five times using the Power Play feature. For $1 extra, players can automatically win $2 million for matching all five white-ball numbers using the Power Play option, or up to five times the original prize for the other prize levels. See the Powerball page for more details.

Approximately 88 percent of Powerball players use Quick Pick to select their numbers during an average period.

TIPS

Play early to avoid long lines. The terminals will shut down at 8:59 p.m. Wednesday, and no one will be able to buy tickets after that time.

Play within your means. It only takes one ticket to win.

When you buy a ticket, sign it immediately and keep it in a safe place. Like money, it is a bearer instrument.

Be sure to check your ticket closely. Even if you don’t win the jackpot, you may have won one of the eight other prizes in the game.